Ireland cannot tax its way to meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets, State told

A coal fired power plant. It comes as the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest figures earlier this month showed that Ireland reduced its greenhouse gas emissions a paltry 1.9%

Ireland cannot tax its way to meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets and the State will need to prepare for how it makes up the lost tax revenue as we move to a lower carbon future, a new Government report has said.

The paper from the Department of Finance said that taxes on fossil fuels are estimated to fall by €1bn by 2030 as individuals and businesses adapt their behaviour to use less fossil fuels and fewer fossil fuel cars over the medium term.